Overview
You can cycle to Lough Owel from Mullingar in about twenty minutes on a flat canal greenway, which is the main reason this spring-fed lake, 4 km north of the town in County Westmeath, gets busy on warm days. It’s clean, clear and calcareous – one of the best examples of a large spring-fed lake in Ireland – with a concrete jetty and diving board on the southern shore, and open-water swimming races that have run here every summer since the 1940s, the gentlest of them a ‘Dawn Dip’. The lake’s outflow once fed the Royal Canal, carrying goods between Dublin and the Shannon.
History and islands
Lough Owel (Irish: Loch Uail) has six islands, four of them named: Church, Srudarra, Lady’s and Carrickphilbin. Church Island is the largest, taking its name from the ruins of St Loman’s Oratory, an early medieval hermitage. By tradition, the Viking chieftain Turgesius was dragged from his boat and drowned in the lough in 845 on the orders of the High King Máel Sechnaill. The mesotrophic water reaches a maximum depth of about 21 metres.
What to see and do
Can you swim in Lough Owel?
Yes. Portnashangan on the southern shore is a designated bathing water, one of only nine lake bathing waters in Ireland, so the water here is sampled through the season from 1 June to 15 September. It is a popular swimming spot from late spring into early autumn. A concrete jetty with an iron ladder and a diving board drops you straight into clear water, and tiered concrete seating gives families a dry vantage point; a seasonal coffee stall often sets up nearby. For the cold-water-then-heat crowd, Hot House Saunas runs barrel saunas with a view over the lake.
Angling
The lough is known for brown trout and the occasional char. Because natural spawning is limited, the nearby Cullion Fish Farm rears fry from eggs stripped in the lake and returns them each spring. Permits are sold at the Mullingar Harbour shop and through the Westmeath Angling Association.
Greenway and water sports
A flat 4 km spur of the Royal Canal Greenway runs from Mullingar Harbour out to the lake, following the Lough Owel feeder, so you can walk or cycle out safely without touching the N4. Kayaks, canoes and paddleboards can be hired by the hour or day at the Mullingar Harbour Activity Zone.
Birdwatching
Early mornings are best for waders and swans on the water. The real draw is on the surrounding farmland, which is a key wintering ground for Greenland white-fronted geese – but that’s a winter sight; come in summer and you’ll see waterfowl, not geese. The lake and its marshes are a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area for birds and a Ramsar wetland (designated 1996).
Multyfarnham
The village of Multyfarnham, a few kilometres north, is built around a Franciscan friary that has kept a congregation for centuries – one of the few medieval foundations in the Midlands still in continuous use – and its grounds carry life-sized Stations of the Cross. A kilometre on, Abbey Blooms Botanical Gardens is a landscaped community garden with a café, plant shop and a large illuminated trail each winter.
Practical information
- Access and parking: Free parking at the Mullingar Harbour Activity Zone, Mullally’s Car Park (off the N4) and the Tullaghan access point, with signposted lay-bys around the perimeter.
- Transport: Reached directly from the N4. The nearest Bus Éireann stop is Ballinalack, about 7 km away (routes 022 and 023), and Mullingar railway station is a short drive off.
- Facilities: Toilets, picnic tables and a café at the Mullingar Harbour Activity Zone; picnic areas with benches and bins at the public car park south of the N4 and at Tullaghan.
Nearby attractions
- Belvedere House Estate and Jealous Wall – an 18th-century mansion with formal gardens and a stone folly.
- Hill of Uisneach – the traditional ceremonial centre of Ireland.
- Fore – Abbey and Seven Wonders – a monastic site with a round tower and medieval ruins.
- Kilbeggan Distillery – Ireland’s oldest working whiskey distillery.
- Lough Derravaragh – a scenic lake tied to the Children of Lir myth.
Come on a warm weekday if you want the jetty to yourself; weekends and race days fill the southern car park early.